Access all areas: these passports are the most powerful pages in the world

The Australian passport is the most expensive in the world, but a new index shows this doesn't equate to power.

Many other country's passports are more powerful than Australia's which came in sixth in the Henley Passport Index 2025.

The index ranks 199 of the world's passports according to the number of destinations their holders can access without a prior visa.

Australian passports allow their holders to gain visa-free entry into 189 out of 227 destinations worldwide in 2025. There has been no change since 2024 but the Aussie passport has climbed in the ranking since 2023 when it sat in eighth place.

The Aussie passport shot up in price in January 2025, the second hike in a year, and now costs $412 for 10 years, ahead of passports from the USA, New Zealand, Canada and the UK.

Curious about which passports are more powerful than the Aussie book?

Here are the countries with the top-10 most powerful passports in 2025:

The US passport is the second-biggest faller between 2015 and 2025 after Venezuela, dropping seven places from second to its current position in ninth.

The British passport also experienced big drops - it was at the top of the index in 2015 but now sits in fifth place.

Canada is also a big loser, dropping three ranks over the past decade from fourth to seventh.

China ascended from 94th place in 2015 to 60th in 2025, with its visa-free score increasing by 40 destinations in that time.

China has also risen on the Henley Openness Index, after it granted visa-free access to a further 29 countries including Australia over the past year, and now sits in 80th position.

At the other end of the mobility spectrum, Afghanistan comes in last with 26 destinations closely followed by Syria with 27 destinations and Iraq with 31. To put that into perspective, Singaporeans are able to travel to 169 more destinations visa-free than Afghanistan.

Global travel is becoming more digitised, with the UK and Europe phasing in digital border controls.

The UK has been rolling out its electronic travel authorisation (ETA) in stages, and Australian passport holders are now required to fill in a pre-travel permit.

Similarly, Europe has been phasing in its European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), which is now expected to commence in May, allowing eligible Australians to enter 30 European countries for a limited period.

Find out which countries Australian passport holders need a visa for here.